Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad Courses
Although mathematical olympiad competitions are carried out by solving problems, the system of Mathematical Olympiads and the related training courses cannot involve only the techniques of solving mathematical problems. Strictly speaking, it is a system of mathematical advancing education. To guide students who are interested in mathematics and have the potential to enter the world of Olympiad mathematics, so that their mathematical ability can be promoted efficiently and comprehensively, it is important to improve their mathematical thinking and technical ability in solving mathematical problems.
An excellent student should be able to think flexibly and rigorously. Here the ability to do formal logic reasoning is an important basic component. However, it is not the main one. Mathematical thinking also includes other key aspects, like starting from intuition and entering the essence of the subject, through prediction, induction, imagination, construction, design and their creative abilities. Moreover, the ability to convert concrete to the abstract and vice versa is necessary. Technical ability in solving mathematical problems does not only involve producing accurate and skilled computations and proofs, the standard methods available, but also the more unconventional, creative techniques. It is clear that the usual syllabus in mathematical educations cannot satisfy the above requirements, hence the mathematical olympiad training books must be self-contained basically.
The book is based on the lecture notes used by the editor in the last 15 years for Olympiad training courses in several schools in Singapore, like Victoria Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls High School and Dunman High School. Its scope and depth significantly exceeds that of the usual syllabus, and introduces many concepts and methods of modern mathematics.
